Spicy Couscous with Roasted Vegetables and Garbanzo Beans

Our friend Stacy invited us to dinner for a double birthday celebration. She is such a wonderful cook and we have shared many amazing meals with her family. I knew her dinner would be spectacular, but now that I am a vegan, I knew I couldn't partake in all of her delicious cooking.  Seriously, she has three kids and still managed to de-bone at least eight or more game hens that she individually stuffed.
Typically we always share in the cooking, so I was excited to bring a vegan side dish that the Engineer and I could also enjoy as our main meal. I also brought two appetizers just to ensure we would have enough to eat without making our host feel like she had to cater to our special diets. 

I wanted to bring something appealing to the eye with robust flavor that also tasted hearty.  I think Spicy Couscous with Roasted Vegetables and Garbanzo Beans fit the bill. I think my only change would be to add extra olive oil if not eating right away so that the beans and vegetables remain moist.

As with most of my recipes, chopping is really the hardest part of the deal. The couscous comes together in less than ten minutes. I mean from start to finish to the platter. Not sure what could be easier than that. I use the Near East brand of plain couscous and then spice it up before cooking. I think with any kind of vegetarian  cooking, the spices should be adundant so that your tastebuds are really alive. You will never miss the meat.

These two recipes are adapted from the book Easy Vegan, a wonderful little book full of amazing vegan dishes.


Spicy Couscous with Roasted Vegetables and Garbanzo Beans

1 box of Near East Brand plain Couscous
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
2 cups of vegetable broth
1 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp of ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp of Spanish Sweet Paprika
1/4 tsp or more of cayenne pepper

Bring the oil, broth, and spices to a boil. Add entire box of couscous. Cover and turn off heat. Let sit for about 7 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let sit a few more minutes. Re-fluff to ensure no lumps. Pour onto a big platter.

Roasted Vegetables and Garbanzo Beans

1 pint of crimini mushrooms, left whole
1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped
1 dozen garlic cloves, peeled
1 large sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups drained garbanzo beans, I prefer fresh, but canned work fine
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop all vegetables and try to keep pieces around the same size. Not too small but not overly big. Put all veggies in a big bowl and sprinkle with oil. Toss to make sure all items are covered. Spread veggies onto two foil lined cookie sheets and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake for about one hour. Start checking at 35 minutes to ensure even browning and that nothing is burning. You may have to give them a little toss. Remove from the oven and add beans that have tossed in a touch of olive oil. Put back in the oven and roast another 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread over the couscous. Top with toasted pine nuts.  Romesco sauce would make a nice accompaniment. See blog for that recipe.

As an appetizer, I brought Romesco Sauce served with warm pita wedges and kalamata olives. The other appetizer was fresh guacamole served with a tangy pico de gallo. That recipe will be featured soon.

I like to do all my chopping at once. Spreading things on a large tray helps keep you organzied. Plus, clean-up is a breeze.

Toss the vegetables in olive oil to lightly coat each piece.

Make sure to spead vegetables out evenly on the tray. Over crowding will lead to steamed versus roasted vegetables. They will shrink down and for the final roasting phase, they can be combined to one sheet pan. Also, make sure to line each pan with foil. Makes clean-up much easier plus the vegetables won't stick to the pan.

Here the vegetables have been combined to one pan along with garbanzo beans. Toss the garbanzo beans in a little bit of olive oil before adding to the vegetables so they don't dry out.

This is a photo of the vegetables and garbanzo beans after the final roasting phase.

To serve, spoon the veggies over the Spiced Couscous and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

Do any of you have any tried and true recipes that you like to bring when invited over for dinner? Please share. I know there are many great cooks out there!